Major education bills await Perry's signature

From the trivial to the titanic, legislators tackled a host of public education bills during the regular session that ended in May.

They restored cuts made to Texas public school funding in 2011, reduced high-stakes testing, overhauled high school graduation requirements and allowed for more charter schools.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said he's been told the session accomplished more education reform than any in decades. “I don't know if that's accurate, but it certainly feels that way,” he said.

Rep. Bill Callegari, R-Katy, waved aside the idea that lawmakers paid more attention to education this year but noted that “there have been concerns we weren't going in the right direction, and I think people are trying to right the ship.”

When lawmakers began work this year, few expected public schools to get a significant infusion of cash. Republican leaders refused to commit to undoing last session's $5.4 billion in education funding cuts, saying they wanted to wait until the Texas Supreme Court ruled on a lawsuit challenging the state's school finance system.

But better-than-expected state revenues and persistent pleas from Democrats, parents and school officials fueled bipartisan support for restoring a hefty portion of the funding. The budget sent to Gov. Rick Perry would restore $3.4 billion to school districts and add $300 million to offset newly required payments to the Teacher Retirement System.

The biggest policy changes are in two bills awaiting Perry's signature after months of lengthy hearings, a flurry of amendments and heated floor debates.

House Bill 5 revamps high school graduation and curriculum requirements and reduces to five the number of high-stakes tests that students have to pass in order to graduate, down from 15 such tests. It received broad support from lawmakers.

It eliminates cumulative score requirements for end-of-course exams. And it creates a 22-credit “foundation” diploma plan making all students eligible to apply to a four-year college — while allowing for “endorsements” in career and vocational tracks for 26 credits. The bill also decreases the role of test scores in rating schools.

And the bill changes the way the state ranks school districts, switching to an “A” through “F” letter grade system by 2016, a provision criticized by area school superintendents who applauded other portions of the bill. Some said it would hurt districts with higher percentages of economically disadvantaged and minority students.

Senate Bill 2 allows 305 charters to operate in Texas by 2019 through yearly increases in the current limit of 215 and makes it easier for the state to close poor-performing charter schools. Certain types of charters, including those for dropout recovery schools, wouldn't count toward the cap.

The bill also gives charter operators the right of first refusal on unused or underused facilities belonging to traditional public school districts and transfers the authority to grant charters to the education commissioner — with input from the State Board of Education, which currently makes those decisions.

Attempts to help fund private school education with public dollars did not succeed. Senate Bill 23 would have allowed businesses, in exchange for tax breaks, to make voluntary payments to a special fund to offset private school tuition for students wishing to transfer from the public school system.

Some have asked Perry to allow lawmakers to try again on that bill during the current special session.

David Anthony, the CEO of the public school advocacy group Raise Your Hand Texas, said he would not be surprised to see the issue resurface: “Vouchers always seem to cycle back on a regular basis.”

Lawmakers considered other testing reform measures and passed House Bill 866, which would allow high-performing students to skip tests if they had shown proficiency in the subject in previous years. It would require a federal government waiver.

Other education issues that legislators dealt with included:

House Bill 1009, which allows school districts to designate “school marshals” who can carry concealed handguns after receiving special training, awaits Perry's signature.

Three bills tried to ban the use of radio frequency identification technology to track students after Northside Independent School District piloted a program using it this year. None of them passed.

Senate Bill 1406 was among various bills targeting CSCOPE, state-sanctioned lesson plans used by most school districts but criticized by conservatives for what some saw as an emphasis on Islam and an “anti-American” exercise inviting students to regard the Boston Tea Party from a British perspective as a terrorist act. By the time it passed, the board that supplies the lesson plans voted to forbid their use, pointedly asking lawmakers to keep the regional Educational Service Centers open until 2019.

Senate Bill 1458, a revamp of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas' $117 billion public pension fund, gained traction with teacher groups and Democratic lawmakers late in the session, but school districts were not happy about being required to pay into the system for the first time ever.

Language on teacher evaluations in Senate Bill 1403 was altered to uncouple it from test scores, and the amended version, requiring annual teacher evaluations using the current standard, passed as part of another bill on teacher salaries and working conditions, House Bill 2012.

Senate Bill 1718 would create a statewide “achievement” district to turn around low-performing schools. It stalled in the House but may be resurrected in the special session, Patrick said. Local superintendents complained that it would erode local control and feared that it would open public schools to privatization.

“This entire session was about compromise and keeping the divisive issues off the table,” said Brock Gregg, governmental relations director for the Association of Texas Professional Educators. “We're left wondering if it will get nasty during the special session, though, as we see an undercurrent of those pushing a for-profit agenda that could harm public education.”

The session, Anthony said, was marked by “a high focus” on education and a willingness to compromise.

“I heard a very wise senator say that you can tell negotiation is good when neither side gets everything they want,” he said.

mcesar@express-news.net

Lindsay Kastner contributed to this report. Ericka Mellon is a Houston Chronicle reporter.